Listening
by Morning Lilies
Summary: We all thought so! Professor R.J.Lupin was only pretending to be asleep on the train. But he's a marauder so of course he was eavesdropping! The train ride in PoA from Lupin's point of view as he listens to Harry and his freinds for the first time


**A/N: So I actually started this like months ago, then for some reason I stopped halfway through and never got back into it. But I always really liked the idea so I decided to finish it up. Like the summary says, this is the train ride in Prisoner of Azkaban from Lupin's perspective. I always kind of wondered what it was like for him to see Harry for the first time and teach him when Harry had no idea Lupin had known him when he was a baby. Oh yeah, I call Lupin "Lupin" not Remus because… well honestly because that's how we get to know him in the books and it just seems odd to call him Remus, at least while he's a teacher. **

**Most of the dialogue and a lot of the descriptions of what's happening come word for word out of chapter five in Prisoner of Azkaban, The Dementor. All the dialogue is exact, punctuation and everything and I used a lot of the same words for other things because I think Lupin would observe them the same way Harry would. Lupin's thoughts are of course original and some things had to be paraphrased because Lupin might has a different perspective. Like he doesn't know any of their names until someone else says them of course. But enough of my rambling, you'll get it. I hope you like it! :D**

Remus Lupin jerked awake as the train lurched into motion. He shifted, massaging his sore neck and blinking out the streaky window at the platform sliding away more and more quickly as the train gathered speed. The achingly familiar noises of students bustling up and down the train, looking for an empty compartment or searching for their friends reached his ears and he stared out the window in a daze as foggy memories played in the back of his mind. How strange it was to be going back like this…

Pushing himself up straighter in his seat, he thought about getting his briefcase down and going through lesson plans one more time, but he was too tired to move. He spotted a couple of younger students peering nervously into his compartment and hurriedly moving on when they saw him looking. He smiled ruefully to himself. Ah, yes…he was a teacher now. Students would be giving him a wide birth.

Settling back in his seat, he closed his eyes, trying to get back to sleep. He was so tired… Why a full moon had to be the night before he started his job…

He was just beginning to doze off when the compartment door slid open, once again jerking him back to consciousness. Lupin kept his eyes closed, feigning sleep and hopefully making it less awkward for whoever needed the empty seats. Apparently it worked because he heard shuffling footsteps then the door sliding shut.

The students whispered as they sat down as far away from him as possible. He imagined them giving him wary looks; an intruder on their train.

"Who d'you reckon he is?" one of them hissed to his friends.

"Professor R.J. Lupin," a girl whispered back at once.

Lupin fought to keep the surprise off his face.

"How d'you know that?" the boy asked, mirroring Lupin's thoughts.

"It's no his case," she replied.

This time he couldn't keep the corner of his mouth from twitching. She was very observant.

"Wonder what he teaches," the boy said in a low voice.

"That's obvious," the girl whispered. "There's only one vacancy isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Lubin smiled inwardly. She was very smart, maybe a Ravenclaw? He wondered what it would be like to teach all those students like her; the ones that were like he used to be and knew practically more than the professors sometimes.

"Well, I hope he's up to it," the boy said, sounding doubtful. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off doesn't he?"

Lupin smiled inwardly again. Yes, he probably didn't look very impressive at the moment, but he might have something up his sleeve…

"Anyway… what were you going to tell us?" the boy continued, apparently addressing a third person who'd been silent until now.

"Well…" another boy began.

Something seemed to twist in the pit of Lupin's stomach at the sound of the third person's voice but he had no idea why. It was quiet and a little tentative, but utterly unfamiliar… right? He quickly banished the thought that had popped into his head. The likely-hood of that happening wasn't even worth contemplating.

But all the same, he found himself listening hard as the second boy spoke. "You know when I went downstairs last night to get Scabbers' stuff? I sort of… overheard your mum and dad arguing. About Sirius Black."

Lupin stiffened a little at the name, but not enough for anyone to notice. No matter where he went these days it seemed to fallow him.

"Your dad said he escaped… to come after me."

Lupin kept stock-still, barely breathing as this sentence sank in. There could only be one person who would say that. But it couldn't be… of all the students to choose this compartment… of all the compartments for him to choose… How was it that Lily and James's son managed to be sitting mere feet away from him?

A part of his brain that managed to separate itself from the shock that was paralyzing the rest of his body was still listening to the boy talk. "Fudge didn't want me to know, but your dad thought I should. He reckons we get into too much trouble as it is. That's what he wanted to talk to me about just now. To warn me about Black and to make me promise not to go looking for him. Dunno why he thinks I would anyway, but…"

The boy Lupin was sure had to be Harry trailed off and there was a silence in the compartment as Harry's two friends tried to absorb the information that an insane mass-murderer had escaped Azkaba to kill their friend and Lupin tried to absorb the information that the tiny toddler he'd last seen giggling happily in his mother's arms was quietly explaining _this _right next to him.

Finally the girl broke the silence in the sort of horrified voice Lupin associated with wide eyes and disbelieving expressions. "Sirius Black escaped to come after _you_? Oh, Harry…" no doubt now. "You'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry –"

"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds _me_."

What did that mean? Lupin's numb brain was beginning to grind back into action. He supposed there was no way James's son _wouldn't _get into trouble, but he had always imagined it being the sort of trouble James got into (minus the monthly werewolf-sitting, as James used to call it), but from the way Harry and the girl were talking it sounded like more than pranks and detentions.

The other boy spoke up. "How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" he said shakily.

Lupin thought he heard Harry sigh a little as if the other two were taking this worse than he'd expected. Wasn't he scared? He was only thirteen and a mad mass-murder wanted to kill him! But then he remembered James and Lily's stoic faces when they'd heard about the prophecy, remembered the unwavering bravery even when they'd been up against Voldemort himself, and supposed it wasn't that surprising for Harry to not be as scared as he ought to be.

But perhaps he was imagining the whole thing, because Harry's friends didn't seem to notice anything.

"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," the other boy was saying uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner, too."

"But they'll catch him, won't they?" the girl said earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too…"

We can only hope so, Lupin thought bitterly.

"What's that noise?" the other boy said suddenly and Lupin noticed for the first time a high-pitched, tiny whistle that sounded like a Sneakoscope. "It's coming from your trunk, Harry." The other boy stood up and a moment later the whistling grew much louder and something was glowing brilliantly through Lupin's eyelids.

"Is that a Sneakoscope?" the girl said, sounding interested and standing up apparently to get a better view of the thing.

"Yeah…mind you it's a very cheap one," the boy said. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send to Harry."

"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" the girl said shrewdly and Lupin bit back a smile.

"No! Well…I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys… but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?"

"Stick it back in the trunk," Harry advised as the Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, "or it'll wake him up."

Lupin felt Harry's gaze on him and guiltily did his best to look fast asleep. The thing was probably going off because he was pretending to be asleep while really listening to their conversation.

The Sneakoscope's whistle was deadened and Lupin heard the trunk lid shut.

"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," The other boy said, sitting down. "They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."

Ah, yes, this would be their third year, wouldn't it, Lupin thought with a pang of nostalgia. They'd be all excited about being able to visit the village for the first time. He remembered the endless discussions about Hogsmeade he had had with his friends before they were allowed to go. He couldn't believe that Harry was old enough for that already. Merlin, he was getting old.

"Do you know much about Hogsmeade?" asked the girl keenly. "I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain – "

"Yeah, I think it is," the other boy said as if he didn't really care, "but that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"

"What's that?" the girl asked. She must be a Muggle-born Lupin thought. That was the only way she wouldn't have heard about Honeydukes.

"It's this sweetshop," the other boy said dreamily, "where they've got _everything_… Pepper Imps – they make you smoke at the mouth – and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next –"

"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" the girl pressed on eagerly. "In _Sights of Historical Sorcery_ it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack is supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain –"

So the rumors were still going strong, Lupin thought, tautening a little at the mention of the Shack.

The other boy was obviously not listening to the girl at all. He was still going on about sweets.

"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?" she asked, probably directed towards Harry as the other boy was too busy enumerating candy.

"'Spect it will," Harry replied, and Lupin was surprised to hear the gloom in his voice. Wasn't he supposed to be thrilled about this? "You'll have to tell me when you've found out."

Lupin frowned slightly, but none of them were looking at him. What was Harry talking about? Was he not allowed to go to the village? It must be because of Black. They wouldn't want Harry running around Hogsmeade with him on the loose. It was probably a good idea, but Lupin couldn't help but be a little furious. Hadn't Black already taken enough from Harry?

"What d'you mean?" the other boy said, snapping out of his daydream.

"I can't go. The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either," Harry told them.

Lupin couldn't help but be a little impressed that Harry had actually asked the Minister of Magic to sign a school permission form. He wondered about the slightly terse way Harry said the Dursleys' name. Lupin knew Lily and her sister hadn't gotten along, but surely she'd moved past that when she decided to take Harry in. Dumbledore must have informed Harry's aunt and Uncle about Black so they didn't want him running around the village.

"_You're not allowed to come?" _the other boy said in a horrified voice. "But – no way – McGonagall or someone will give you permission – "

Lupin gathered from Harry's hollow laugh that Professor McGonagall had not changed much from the strict teacher the Marauders had received so many detentions (and house points, though nobody seemed to remember that) from.

" – or Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle –"

Lupin wondered who the Fred and George the boy kept mentioning were. They sounded a bit like the Marauders if they knew every secret passage out of the castle. Was it possible that someone _had _found their old map as James had hoped?

"Ron!" the girl said sharply. So that was the other boy's name. "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose –"

Unfortunately, Lupin thought she was right. It just wasn't safe for Harry. He sighed inwardly. If Harry was anything like his father, Lupin would have to be keeping a very close eye on him to make sure he stayed in the castle.

"Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask for permission," Harry said bitterly.

Well, the boy certainly had courage if he was going to ask McGonagall.

"But if we're with him," Ron said spiritedly to the girl, "Black wouldn't dare –"

"Oh, Ron, don't talk rubbish," the girl snapped. "Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in a crowded street. Do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because _we're _there?"

Lupin had to try very hard not to flinch at these words. But it was true. He was glad Harry had managed to find a sensible friend. She might keep him from getting into trouble. But then he remembered how successful he had been on that front and his hopes wavered.

"Don't let that thing out!" Ron said suddenly. Lupin heard light movement and then a thud as Ron snarled "get out of here!"

Lupin assumed it was the girl's pet, probably a cat, and apparently Ron didn't like it that much.

"Ron, don't!" the girl said angrily.

Sensing an angry outburst from Ron that would probably lead to a row (they seemed to bicker quite a bit) Lupin pretended to stir in his sleep, turning his head surreptitiously so that he could eavesdrop better. It worked; Ron and the girl fell silent and the argument was averted. He could feel all of their eyes on him and did his best to act as asleep as possible.

After a moment or two, they resumed their conversation in low voices. Lupin listened to the trivial topics of classes, other students and teachers, Quidditch, and other random small talk with a kind of rapture. It was surreal to hear Harry talking to his friends so casually beside him when Lupin had not seen him for twelve hears. He fancied he could hear something of Lily and James in Harry's voice, the way he said things. It was almost like a small part of them was coming back to him.

Lupin had thought of Harry a lot in the past twelve years. They were the ones who had been left behind by those terrible twenty-four hours. Lupin had often wondered what Harry had grown to look like, if he was talented and reckless like his father, or gentle and kind like his mother. He had thought a few times about asking Dumbledore if he could go and visit Harry. He had planned his argument, would say he didn't have to tell Harry anything about magic, but he'd always changed his mind. Harry was probably growing up happy and normal. He didn't need a reminder of his parents' deaths in the form of a poor, shabby, lonely man.

But when Dumbledore had offered him the job, one of the first things he'd thought about was that he'd be teaching Harry. It was one of the reasons he had accepted the job at once. Of course he hadn't prepared himself for what it would be like to actually meet the boy for the first time. He still couldn't believe that Harry was actually sitting just a few feet away… and of course had no idea that his new professor had babysat for him, had changed his diapers and finger-painted with him, read him bedtime stories and witnessed his first wobbly steps. No, Harry had no idea the role Lupin had been supposed to play in his life. The role he had missed out on, as Lily and James and Peter had. All because of _Black_.

The train sped steadily northward as they talked. It wasn't until the food cart came by that Harry and his friends turned their attention to Lupin again.

"D'you think we should wake him up?" Ron asked awkwardly. "He looks like he could do with some food."

Lupin heard the girl approach cautiously. "Er – Professor?" she said. "Excuse me – Professor?"

Lupin was starving, but he didn't open his eyes. A sudden kind of fear gripped him. He had not seen Harry for twelve years. Harry had no idea who he was. It was easy, wonderful even, to listen to Lily and James's son talk and laugh with his friends, but what was he supposed to do once he was 'awake'? Was he supposed to tell Harry he'd known his parents? Oh yeah, that'd be great: "Hello Harry! Last time I saw you, you were covered in drool and peanut butter. You have no idea who I am, but I used to be your parents' best friend. Think I could have a chocolate frog?"

So he pretended not to hear the girl.

"Don't worry dear," the woman who pushed the food cart said. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be upfront with the driver."

"I suppose he _is _asleep?" said Ron quietly as the witch left. "I mean – he hasn't died, has he?"

Lupin refrained from snorting with difficulty. Did he really look that bad, did he?

"No, no, he's breathing," the girl whispered.

That seemed to reassure the other two. Ron and Harry got into a chess game and from what Lupin could hear, Harry had inherited his father's abysmal chess skills. Lupin was just slipping into a stupor when the compartment door opened again and an unpleasant, drawling voice brought him back to full awareness.

"Well, look who it is," the new boy said. "Potty and the Weasel."

If he'd had his eyes open, Lupin would have rolled them. _Potty?_ Well, this boy must be one of the clever ones. No one had come up with that before.

Apparently not everybody thought along those lines because Lupin heard some trollish chuckling from what he assumed must be the kid's possy.

"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," the boy drawled. "Did your mother die of shock?"

So Ron was a Weasley. He must be Arthur's son. Lupin remembered reading the article about Arthur winning some money a few weeks ago. Lupin had been glad to hear about it. He didn't know Arthur very well, but Arthur had always been decent to him. He didn't like the way this boy was talking about him.

Ron jumped to his feat, knocking something to the floor and Lupin thought it was about time he interfered. He was sure the drawling kid deserved anything that was coming to him, but Lupin was a teacher now, after all. He gave a snort, still feigning sleep.

"Who's that?" the drawling boy demanded.

"New teacher," Harry told him, getting to his feet too. "What were you saying Malfoy?"

Lupin could almost hear the hint of a smirk in Harry's voice. Harry knew the other kid wasn't going to try anything now. The Tables had turned.

"C'mon," the boy muttered and Lupin heard the door slide shut again.

Harry and Ron sat back down.

"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," Ron said angrily.

Malfoy? Lupin should have known. He remembered Lucius from his first couple years at school. He was never very pleasant. Malfoy was one of the rich purebloods who would of course take issue with the Weasleys' poverty and kindness for Muggles. And now it was passing on to another generation.

"I mean it," Ron was saying. "If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and – "

"Ron!" the girl hissed and Lupin could feel her eyes on him. "Be _careful_…"

Yes, he most definitely was a teacher now.

The train sped ever further north as the afternoon wore on. Lupin could tell it was getting darker even through his eyelids. The storm crashing outside made any hope of drifting off impossible.

"We must be nearly there," Ron said, a while after the lamps flickered to life.

As though on cue, the train began to slow down.

"Great," Ron said. Lupin felt Ron move around him, probably to look out the window. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast…"

Lupin frowned an unnoticeably amount. Of course he could have lost track of time, but he thought they still had a little further to go.

The girl seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "We can't be there yet," she said.

"So why're we stopping?" Ron asked.

Lupin didn't know, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good.

The train went slower and slower until it jolted to a stop, throwing luggage out of the racks. An then the lanterns went out and they were plunged into darkness. Lupin opened his eyes instinctually, but he couldn't see anything in the blackness anyways.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"Ouch!" The girl gasped. "Ron, that was my foot!"

Lupin heard Harry moving beside him. "D'you think we've broken down?" he asked.

"Dunno…"

Lupin jumped at a loud squealing sound before he spotted the dim outline of Ron opposite him, whipping a patch of the window to look out.

"There's something moving out there," he told them. "I think people are coming aboard…"

Lupin hoped that was all it was. He remembered what Dumbledore had said bout guarding the school. If those things came aboard…

The compartment door suddenly slid open and someone stumbled in.

"Sorry – d'you know what's going on? – Ouch – sorry –"

"Hullo Neville," Harry said.

_Neville?_ Lupin though. Frank and Alice's son maybe? He was Harry's age, born the day before Harry actually. But now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Harry! Is that you? What's happening?"

"No idea – sit down –"

There was a loud hissing noise and a yelp of pain. It sounded like Neville had tried to sit on the cat, or whatever it was.

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came the girl's voice, saying exactly what Lupin had been thinking of doing. He heard her moving towards the door, sliding it open and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain.

"Who's that?" the girl said.

"Who's _that_?" came a second girl's voice.

"Ginny!" Lupin heard the first girl exclaim. Apparently another friend of theirs.

"Hermione!" So _that _was Harry's other friend's name. Lupin had been wondering what it was.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I was looking for Ron –"

"Come in and sit down –"

"Not here! _I'm_ here!"

"Ouch!"

Lupin thought it was about time they figured out what was going on. He didn't like the signs so far.

"Quiet!" he said and instantly silence fell. Weird. He supposed one of the perks of the job was kids fallowed his instructions.

Lupin pulled out his wand and a moment later he held a handful of flames that illuminated the compartment with a dull glow. He could see them all clearly now. The tall red-haired boy who must be Ron across from him and a little red-haired girl that could only be his sister arched awkwardly towards the seat next to him, trying to get around a plum, round-faced boy sprawled on the floor. Once Lupin saw him, there was no doubt this was Neville Longbottom. He was the spitting image of his mother. A girl with a lot of bush brown hair had frozen near the door – she must be Hermione.

And then Lupin spotted Harry, small, skinny, pale, incurably messy black hair. He looked so much like James it momentarily took Lupin's breath away. In fact the only thing that assured him it wasn't indeed James sitting there in front of him was the bright green almond-shaped eyes peering at him from behind round glasses. Lily's eyes.

Lupin could see both of them more clearly than he had in twelve years. The familiar details that had slipped away from his memory came flooding back with such force that it nearly knocked him flat. But now wasn't the time. Something wasn't right. Lupin tore his eyes away from Harry, shoving all those old memories away into the back of his mind.

"Stay where you are," he told them, slowly getting to his feet. But before he got more than two steps, the door slid slowly open and standing in the doorway was what Lupin had feared. A dementor, tall, hooded, black-cloaked and horrible. It sucked in a long rattling breath and Lupin felt the intense cold swirling around him, threatening to drag him under.

Those memories he'd been pushing back swam to the front of his brain and he could hear Dumbledore telling him that Lily and James were dead, the nasally, impersonal voice on the wireless was informing him that Peter had been murdered and that his last living friend had been arrested and charged for the deed. He heard the mournful speeches from the memorial services echoing through his head, the sound of the dirt slamming heavily back into place, covering them up forever…

But he couldn't drown in these memories. They were long gone and unchangeable, and he needed to stay focused. Something was wrong. Lupin's eyes darted to Harry. He had gone rigid in his seat, his eyes rolled back in his head. Then he crumpled, sliding off the seat and onto the floor, twitching and jerking like he was having a seizure.

Before the thing could get any closer, Lupin stepped over Harry's prone form.

"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go," he told the dementor, furious that the Ministry had let this – maybe even ordered this to happen.

The dementor didn't move, so Lupin raised his wand. The image of Harry that he'd seen for the first time only a minute ago burst into his mind before he could even think about what to use. Harry, alive and well (if not at the moment) and looking so much like both his parents fixed itself in Lupin's head as he murmured the spell, and his silvery patronus whooshed out of his wand. The dementor turned and glided away.

"Harry!" Lupin turned swiftly. Ron and Hermione, looking very scared, were both kneeling on the floor beside Harry, who hadn't moved. Neville, very pale, was watching anxiously, and Ron's little sister, Ginny, was curled up in the corner looking terrible and shaking uncontrollably.

Lupin's impulse was to go straight to Harry. But that wasn't his place. Ron and Hermione were obviously the ones who took that role. It was his job to patch everyone else up. _Chocolate,_ he thought. It was lucky he'd bought that bar for the train ride. He moved carefully around the three grouped on the floor and pulled down his brief case just as the train started to move again and the lanterns burst back to life.

"Harry! Harry! Are you alright?"

Lupin looked over. Harry's eyelids were fluttering. Ron was ever so gently trying to revive him by slapping his face.

"W – what?" Harry mumbled and Lupin saw Hermione sag with relief. He felt the same way. Harry raised a shaking hand to push his glasses back on. He looked awful, clammy and too-white.

Ron and Hermione heaved him back onto his seat.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.

"Yeah," said Harry, though he didn't look it. He glanced quickly towards the door. "What happened? Where's that – that thing? Who screamed?"

Lupin stiffened a little, though no one looked at him. He wondered what Harry had heard. Surely – _surely_ it couldn't be what Lupin was thinking. He was only a baby. He couldn't possibly remember that? But whatever it was, it was bad enough to make him pass out. Praying Harry did not have to hear that night, Lupin pulled opened his case and fished around for his chocolate.

"No one screamed," Ron was telling Harry, sounding even more nervous than before.

Harry looked around the compartment, seeming to be struggling to understand. "But I heard screaming –"

They all jumped as Lupin broke the chocolate bar into pieces with a loud snap.

"Here," he said, handing one of the bigger pieces to Harry. "Eat it. It'll help."

Harry took the chocolate, but he didn't eat it.

"What was that thing?" he asked.

Lupin's first thought was that this was the first coherent sentence Harry had ever said to him. He shook himself mentally. He was thinking like they all had the last time he'd seen Harry, where everything Harry did was a first and a big deal, something to remember.

"A dementor," he said, giving chocolate to the rest. He was surprised at how strongly all of them had been affected. They were only kids, and they hadn't even grown up during a war. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."

They all stared at him. "Eat," he told them again. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…" and he got up and strolled out of the compartment and into the corridor. He'd left partly to give them time to talk since obviously they weren't going to say much in front of him yet, and partly because he had a bone to pick with whoever let those wretched things on a train full of innocent kids.

The driver wasn't very helpful. He was as shaken as the rest. Apparently he hadn't been able to see what they were in the dark and the storm 'til he stopped. He'd thought they were people standing across his tracks, so of course he'd had to stop. By the time he saw what they were, they were already getting on bored and he couldn't stop them. Lupin left him, frustrated. Dumbledore ought to know about this. He'd be furious. Lupin was also worried about Harry. He really had looked awful, far worse than Lupin had ever seen anyone after a only a minute with a dementor. Madam Pomfrey should take a look at him.

He sent a patronous with the message out of one of the windows in the corridor and then headed back to the compartment.

Ron and Neville were still watching Harry anxiously. Hermione had gone over to Ron's little sister, who looked nearly as bad as Harry, and put an arm around her. None of them had touched their chocolate. Smart kids, Lupin thought, don't take candy from strangers.

"I haven't poisoned that chocolate you know…" he told them, smiling a little.

Finally Harry took a bite. It seemed to help a little bit, some color came back to his face and he stopped shaking so much.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Lupin told them, going back to his seat. "Are you alright Harry?"

He couldn't help but ask the question. The kid still looked pretty bad and Lupin was worried.

Harry didn't seem to find it odd that Lupin knew his name, which he realized to late he hadn't officially been told yet.

"Fine," Harry muttered, ducking his head and sounding embarrassed. What was he embarrassed about? Collapsing when no one else had? That wasn't his fault. Anyone who'd witnessed what he had would have passed out. Dementors were horrible, vile things. But Lupin couldn't tell him that without making him even more embarrassed, so he stayed quiet.

None of them spoke much for the rest of the trip. Well, Lupin thought, this wasn't exactly a great way to start out the year. If it was any indication for how the rest of the year was going to go, Lupin had a feeling he'd come out of it completely gray.

**A/N: So? Did anybody like it? I've never read a story like this, so I hope it's kind of a new way of looking at some things. Please let me know what you thought! Reviews make me the happiest person alive! :D **


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